Entertainment and Communication Essay

As an avenue of entertainment and communication, and as a interrogation and reference tool, the mesh kick the bucket has had a huge electrical shock on the modern societies of developed nations. At the same time, there is concern that the disadvantages and negative influences may outweigh the benefits to the parliamentary law. This essay argues that, in the last decade, the advantages of the cyberspace far outweigh the disadvantages. This claim is addressed with the carry of modern authoritative sources which provide the framework for making such(prenominal) a claim. This essay first explores the loading of the net profit on the social structures of family life, and religious and spiritual practice. Subsequently, this essay examines the repercussions of the internet on national cultural identity element and multiculturalism.Firstly, in the last ten years, modern family life has been enhanced by developments in technology, and the internet is no exception. The advent of t he internet affords parents the opportunity to use the World Wide Web to work from scale, removing the need to step forward pre-school age children in day care centres in the care of strangers and so reinforcing the family unit (Jenkins 2010). However, the benefits of the internet not only feature implications for immediate family members of the extended family flush toilet overcome the barriers of time or distance to retain close through such channels as email or social networking sites, for example Facebook. disdain this, Fenech (2007) asserts that the internet has eroded some aspects of family life. Where previous generations may have forsaken dinner conversation in guild to watch television together, the practical dimensions of a laptop screen now preclude this act of togetherness (p342). Nevertheless, whatsoever avenue that generally allows to a greater extent opportunity for contact between members of an immediate or extended family has to be seen as advantageous. Moreo ver, the internet allows a sense of inclusion that goes beyond the family sphere.Secondly, due to the increasing accessibility of the internet in the last ten years, participating in a religion no longer needs depends on a persons ability to attend a place of worship. The virtual crimp may offer a person more opportunities of interaction with both the spiritual leader and opposite devotees by providing facilities such as blogs, chat rooms and video links. Moreover, this bring abouts a sense of belonging to a religious or spiritual community where one may have not existed before, as more and more people commute, work longer hours and, indeed, are required to work on public holidays, which frequently coincide with religious festivals (Wong 2009).Though Goldstein (2008) ascertains that the flagrant consumerism promoted through such mass media outlets as the internet is trustworthy for a turn away from religious practices and a rapid decline in religious benefit attendance, her r esearch centralisees solely on, Christianity, Judaism and Islam and is not inclusive of growing sects such as Jews For Jesus and alternative religions such as The Bahai Faith. Groups such as these use the internet to unite their followers globally (Wong 2009).What is more, the internet is uniting people on a more personal and intimate level.Thirdly, the internet offers the opportunity to apply cultural ties with ones country even when living abroad for work purposes. Expatriates rouse receive electronic versions of newspapers, stream and download news, current affairs programmes and local dramas from their country of origin, so keeping in contact with the acculturation. It could be argued, as Azhad (2008) does, that this process could be facilitated just as easily by sign media and DVD recordings being sent through the mail, as would have been the norm a decade ago. Nonetheless, it is the hold up experience of being able to access news from home as it happens that reinforces a nationals ties to the home culture, and simulates a feeling of being there (Olsten 2008 p.6).This connectedness to home alleviates feelings an expatriate might have of dislocation or alienation from their countrymen, as real time exposure to the home vernacular creates plebeian reference points, making communication a much smoother process (Wong 2009). Equally, other facilities afforded by the internet, such as Skype, enable someone away from home to still have a presence in the home country as they participate in the celebration of cultural festivals and national holidays, thus reinforcing their ladingto nationalism in the eyes of their compatriots and tightening the ties that bind. Alternatively, just as the internet serves to strengthen national identity, it can also provide a point of reference for those who live in a multicultural context.Finally, in a globalised world, the last ten years have seen the internet augment a multicultural society by creating a venue to air dive rse cultural opinions and to construct diverse cultural identities. Mainstream newspapers, radio set and current affairs programmes are representative of a perceived norm and do not glint the complexity of a multicultural society. In turn, ethnocentric or non-mainstream media reach a narrowly targeted interview and serve to further ghettoize the other (Zadrow 2010 p.11). The internet thus provides the opportunity for any voice to be heard alongside and equally with all other voices in the country, community, or indeed, the world.In this way the internet equips the global citizen with a fluidity they can use to exist and interact both globally and locally, quite a than being confined to a fixed and marginalised identity. Notwithstanding the fact that the internet is English based and loosely advocates a western lifestyle, this does not necessarily mean it must lead to a homogenized world. Citing the research of Kennard, Zadrow (2010) maintains that the internet acts as an interac tive archive from which an individual can draw all the elements to both create and, more importantly, preserve cultural identity.In conclusion, this essay explored the effect of the internet on peoples lives in the last decade and found that the advantages of the internet far overshadow the disadvantages. It found the internet has had confirmative effects on family life, allowing the hands on parenting of pre-school children by those parents who are able to use the internet to work from home. In addition, it has reinforced the extended family by harnessing email and social networking sites as a means to last out in direct contact. Furthermore, blogs, chat rooms and video links have offered an alternative to attendance at religious services, which have suffered such rapid decline in recent times.Another positive effect of the internet is its ability to re-assert national identity, particularly for those living abroad, as they retainremote access to the home culture by being able to download or stream current affairs or local drama. Finally, the internet enhances multiculturalism by offering an alternative to mainstream media representations of the norm to those who identify as the other. Arguments which support the negative stir of the internet on peoples lives in the 21st century focus on very narrow aspects and fail to acknowledge the broad range of benefits the internet has borne on modern-day society.ReferencesAzhad, S 2008, Is digital dumbing us down?, Journal of Australian Initiative, vol. 20, no.1, pp.5-7, viewed 30 October 2011, via JSTOR.Fenech, P 2007, Western culture its psyche and the internet, Hobson Press, New York.Goldstein, R 2008, The last person to leave heaven a study of the impact of new millennium consumerism on traditional religious practices, Journal of Critical and Cultural Research, vol.2, no.3, pp. 9-18, viewed 30 October 2011. http//www.prb.australasia.com/ issue/documents/JCCR%23.pdfJenkins, M 2010, Earn $$$ from your home the do mestic revolution in e-com industry, Womens Business Today, vol.8, no.2, pp.120-127, viewed 28 September, via Sage.Olsten, H 2008, Broadsheets online good news for expats, The Weekend Australian, viewed 2 September 2011, via Newsbank.Wong, Z 2009, Why kneel when you can click paper presented to the 7th International Conference on Digital Religion, Southern Cross University. Lismore, NSW, 28 to 31 July.Zadrow, K 2010, The well in the mirror theories of subjectivity in the digital age, Elliott McGill Ltd, viewed 28 July 2011, via Ovid eBooks.